Momina kula, Fortress in Kremen, Bulgaria

Momina Kula is a late antique and medieval fortress on two terraces of about 500 m², on a rocky summit above the right bank of the Mesta. Its walls survive only on the west side, up to 5 m high, built of broken stone and rock blocks with white mortar and a timber reinforcement system. A rectangular tower base (5.4 by 6.2 m) with a 0.9 m entrance stands on the east terrace.

The fortress was probably built in the 2nd–3rd century, abandoned, and restored only in the 12th century. It guarded the road through the Momina Klisura gorge of the Mesta, and finds include household pottery from the 5th–6th and 12th–14th centuries. Written sources mention a tunnel linking it to the ancient city of Nicopolis ad Nestum.

The name Momina Kula means Maiden Tower. Legends tell of a girl who threw herself into the gorge below rather than fall into Ottoman hands; another version says she turned to stone, and her silhouette is still pointed out in the rocks east of the fortress. In Bukovo, she is a giantess, sister of Krali Marko, who washed clothes in a rock basin in the Mesta and built the fortress with stones carried on a rope from Nistoritsa peak.

The fortress lies 5.62 km southeast of Kremen's centre, on the right bank of the Mesta immediately beside the road to Gotse Delchev. Access is only from the west, where steps are cut into the rock; the northern, eastern and southern sides are sheer cliffs. The site occupies two terraces of about 500 m².

Local lore also tells of a giant maiden, sister of the epic hero Krali Marko, who lived at Momina Kula. She washed clothes in a huge stone trough cut into the riverbed of the Mesta and stretched a rope to the opposite peak Nistoritsa to dry them.